Burnett Family

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee…unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field…

…keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

…And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

…But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Then Herod…sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

When they had heard the king, they departed…and when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

And [Jesus] said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Mt. 18:3)

 

Gingerbread

4 1/2 – 5 cups of plain four

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

Sift together dry ingredients; set aside.

In microwave bowl or on the stove, melt 2 sticks of butter.

Add:

1 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

Mix sugar and molasses together with butter. Make a "well" in the dry ingredients; pour in butter mixture and mix well. Dough will be sticky… if it’s too sticky to roll out add more flour.

After cutting out your desired image on a heavily floured surface and placing on a baking pan, bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.

 

Royal Decorating Icing:

Beat together until fluffy:

2 egg whites

4 cups of sifted powdered sugar

1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Add 1 TBSP lemon juice… mix and if it’s too stiff to decorate, add more lemon juice.

Have fun! =)

WARNING: This post contains lots of pictures. Just click on one if you want to see more detail.

Competition always adds a little spice to life, right? (No pun intended – *grin*) Our good friends, the Fortune family, and us have a running game of whose family can beat who. First, we had the “who can build the biggest snowman” contest, which WE legally won. Next, our family automatically took the prize for the largest pile of raked leaves, because…they didn’t have any leaves to rake around their house. :) Then, we came up with the brilliant idea of having a “who can make the best gingerbread house” competition! We picked the same day to make our creations with midnight as the deadline. Everything had to be edible, and no looking at any pictures of other gingerbread houses to get ideas!

With much anticipation, excitement, and wondering what each others families were building, we meticulously drew house plans, gathered creative supplies, and went to work. Throughout the day, we sent taunting emails and pictures of everything BUT our prized projects back and forth!

The Fortunes shocked us with this picture of all their candy!!! Looks like they’re planning to get really creative.

By the end of the day, they had made 11 batches of gingerbread and over 20 batches of royal icing, compared to our 3 batches of gingerbread and around 9 batches of icing. Wow.

One story of the “structure” almost done…_____ to go.

Let’s check out how the Burnetts are doing…

The porch construction crew – it was a big plus to have a real construction worker helping us out. Thanks, Caleb! :)

Guess what we had for supper?

Just kidding. ;)

Of course, we took great pains to make sure the pictures we sent to our rivals didn’t give anything away!

“Aerial view” of our family table. :) We pretty much took over the kitchen.

Waffle cones make exceptional additions to your scene. Carinna developed a great method for creating very realistic trees.

After HOURS and HOURS of work, we finally finished our masterpieces soon after midnight and sent pictures of our works of art to each other.

Okay, are you ready for the final results?? Here we go.

Announcing the Fortunes’…

WALT DISNEY CASTLE!!

TOTALLY impressive! This castle reaches 40 inches high!!

They built a walkway all the way through the castle with a mural on each inner wall.

Here you can see the making of the 9-inch Mickey Mouse mural.

Tinker bell, made out of candy clay – very creative.

Well done, Fortune family!! You get the prize for the most elaborately decorated and impressive structure. =)

And now for the Burnetts’…

CABIN IN THE NORTH WOODS!

Welcome to our cabin! Abbie wound all the “Christmas lights” on the entry way and porch posts.

This is what Christmas is all about, folks! Maggie made the nativity figures out of candy and gingerbread dough.

Would you believe the mailbox is made out of a marshmallow?? Carinna did a great job on this.

The porch is one of our favorite aspects of the scene. Notice the details! Abbie made the pretzel rocking chair and Charity created the holly hedges. *So cute*

Meet Mr. Frosty…is he winking at you? ;)

Now, we’ll take you ‘round back.

Every nostalgic cabin needs an outhouse and a woodpile. :)

Here’s Ole Nose nappin’ in front – another product of Maggie’s gingerbread dough artwork.

Credit for this part of the scene goes to Carinna! She put a lot of effort into the jello pond that is set in a basin of icing, surrounded by evergreens, with a sled in front. That’s exactly how we sled around here…down Grandpa’s pond dam. :)

I have a “thing” for old trucks, so I built this one out of graham crackers. This is our other favorite element of the scene! Can’t have a country cabin without a truck…

…and a FORD, at that! No other comment needed. ;)

We gave ourselves a ribbon :) for the most realistically detailed gingerbread house that tells a meaningful story.

Well, we hope you enjoyed that summary of our contest from “Fortunett Competitions”! (Did you get that?) We already came up with a r-e-a-l-l-y good idea for next time, so watch out, guys!!

Now, go have fun on a yummy project with YOUR family. :)

Several years ago, John-Clay produced a 5-minute movie about remembering the true meaning of Christmas. I had fun acting in my brother’s film, even though we stayed up until 3am one night, recording the narration! I hope you enjoy it.

Synopsis:
In an unexpected turn of events, a young boy learns the truth about Santa and sets out to honor the true King of Christmas! This heart-warming short film emphasizes Who our focus should be during the Christmas season!

You can view a short clip from the movie here.

Click Here to read more about the movie on the store site!

A while back, John-Clay also wrote up a couple Behind-the-Scenes articles about this project, which you can read here Christmas BTS Article 1 – Christmas BTS Article 2

For more information or to download the film, go to:

- ReelCast Productions Download Store -

Our family LOVES this time of the year!

Just want you to know, this picture doesn’t do justice to our legendary pile of leaves. It was HUGE! ;)

Charity will demonstrate one way to do it…

=) So.much.fun.

A few neighbor kids came over and joined us in the raking and jumping party!

We are blessed. Thank You, Lord.

Almost all of the cousins made it to Thanksgiving at Grandma’s! We were only missing two in this picture. Food, games, food, sleep, hunting, food, games, egg nog, food….

Is there any such thing as cousins who aren’t CrAzY?

Charity and Abbie making pear sauce out of Highway 59 pears. :) This stuff is really yummy!

Ducks! (Pre-jerky)

Carinna’s “button buck” – we eat a lot of venison around here.

Anybody else like to switch out their wardrobes when the weather changes?? It’s always a much-anticipated event for us girls.

Down came the fall decor and up went the Christmas tree, the day after Thanksgiving! By the way, the tree isn’t bent. I was tipping the top section over so I could wire the bow on. :)

Look forward to more Christmas happenings…it’s a full, fun, and blessed time of year for the Burnetts!

The End.

*chuckle*